Newt touts 'Chilean model' for Social Security

4/8/12 9:33 AM EDT

Newt Gingrich Sunday said that he'd like to see the United States adopt a 'Chilean model' for Social Security — a pension system that is reliant on a government mandated purchase of a private investment account.

"Back in 1983, the last time we've tried to fix social security, if we had adopted a Chilean model where people have a personal account, there'd be $16 trillion in savings. Right today," the Republican presidential contender said on "Fox News Sunday."

"That's how much the build-up would have been, just based on what's happened in Chile, which is not a theory. It's actually happening," he said.

The idea of personal savings accounts was first raised in a September GOP debate by then-presidential candidate Herman Cain. Conservatives are in the midst of a battle against President Barack Obama's health care law, citing the individual mandate as a violation of personal liberty. But the Chilean pension model relies on a similar regulatory scheme, forcing workers to contribute at least 10 percent of their pre-tax wages into a private investment account.